Leslie Bibb On Bad Boyfriends, Big Lessons And The Imposter Syndrome That Won’t Quit 

Marie Claire’s You’re Gonna Want to Hear This drops a new episode this week, and trust us – this is one you’ll want to inhale on your morning walk. Hosted by marie claire editor Georgie McCourt and supported by F5 Collective, the podcast welcomes one of Hollywood’s funniest, frankest, most fun women: Leslie Bibb. 

Bibb fronts Marie Claire’s November issue. She arrives on the mic like the world’s most charismatic best friend and she wastes zero time diving into the truth of it all. 

“There’s always this voice in the back of my head that’s like, ‘You don’t belong here. You’re not like these people,’” she admits. 

Fresh off The White Lotus and the newly dropped Palm Royale Season Two (she plays the character of Dinah), Bibb is in that sparkling second act where everything clicks.  

The conversation goes between Hollywood glamour and real-woman grit. She talks about the relief of escaping red carpets to the joy of going home, washing off the makeup, and walking her dog: “I pick up his poo so New York doesn’t look like a dump truck. It keeps me grateful.” 

And then there’s the imposter syndrome, which hits even harder when you realise she’s been working for almost 30 years. 

“I’m five on the call sheet. I show up, do my job… my voice doesn’t matter,” she recalls telling herself – before Laura Dern stopped her in her tracks and said: “Your voice matters.” 

It’s one of those mic-drop moments the episode is full of. 

Bibb also opens up about the emotional architecture behind her characters: “Kate in White Lotus is insecure, scared, wound tight. But she’s also the friend who holds your hair while you’re throwing up… she’ll fly to you if you’re in jail.” Dinah in Palm Royale? “She’ll cut you,” Bibb laughs, “but underneath, she’s terrified and desperate to be seen.” That fear-of-being-seen is a constant theme of the episode. 

The best stories come thick and fast: the ex-boyfriend who made her buy him gifts every time she filmed a love scene – “a surfboard, a windsurfer… you name it” – and the comment he made was hard to shake: “He told me ‘If you haven’t made it by 30, you should quit’. Thank god I didn’t.” 

There’s also the cameo you didn’t know you needed – Sam Rockwell popping into frame. “Hi, Sam Rockwell, you’re going to be on this Zoom,” she jokes. It also happens to be Rockwell’s birthday.  

But the heart of the episode is female friendship – the girlfriends who lift you, see you, and let you cry. “Crying isn’t weak. It’s cathartic. It resets you,” she says. 

 By the end of the episode, Bibb reflects on turning 51: “I’m okay with saying no now. The fear of missing out has lessened. I’m not chasing cool. If people think I’m a nerd? Well… I am.” This is Leslie Bibb at her sharpest: funny, flawed, fearless, and fully in her prime. 

Listen now. Trust us – you’re gonna want to hear this.